The Digital Fix: Television

Black Mirror: a new techno-paranoia drama from Charlie Brooker

Charlie Brooker, writer of E4's Dead Set, is returning to our televisions with Black Mirror, a new mini-series which will air in three 60 minute episodes.

The Channel 4 press page has released the following summary:

“Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we've had time to stop and question it. In every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a smartphone - a black mirror of our 21st Century existence. Our grip on reality is shifting. We worship at the altars of Google and Apple. Facebook algorithims know us more intimately than our own parents. We have access to all the information in the world, but no brainspace left to absorb anything longer than a 140-character tweet.”
Black Mirror is a serious of stand-alone 'what if' stories, set to be both funny and shocking with a techno-paranoia bent.

Charlie Brooker says: ‘Growing up, I always loved The Twilight Zone and shows of that ilk. Black Mirror won't be anything like those, but on the other hand, it's closer to them than, say, Downton Abbey. It combines satire, technology, absurdity, and a pinch of surprise, and it all takes place in a world you almost - almost - totally recognise. It changes each week - like the weather, but hopefully about 2000 times more entertaining. If you don't like it, you will be beaten about the face and neck by Channel 4 executives.'

Episode 1, “The National Anthem” will air on Sunday the 4th of December 2011 at 9pm and focuses on how information is distributed so quickly and how, with the public able to voice their opinions so loudly, life has become so much harded for the rich and supposedly powerful. This episode will be a political thriller in which the fictional Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) faces a dilemma when Princess Susannah is kidnapped.

Episode 2, “15 Million Merits” will air Sunday the 11th of December at 9pm and is set in a sarcastic version of a future reality and is a satire on entertainment shows and our insatiable thirst for distraction. In this world, everyone is confined to a life of strange physical drudgery, with the only way to escape being to enter the 'Hot Shot' talent show and pray the judges like you.

Episode 3, “In Memoriam” will air on Sunday the 18th of December at 9pm. In this episode, we find ourselves in an alternate reality where everyone has access to a memory chip style implant which records everything they do, see or hear. You need never forget a face, a holiday, a meeting or a night out again ... but is that always such a good thing?

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